Saw L.A. Confidential (1997), a modern noir film with three major protagonists. The main protagonist is this self-righteous boy-scout of a cop who is determined to do everything by the book. He opens the film being denied a position in the homicide squad because of his unwillingness to bend the law to get results. This conflict of justice vs vigilantism becomes the central preoccupation of the film. As I said: it's a noir film.
The film was alright. I was able to follow the plot okay which is always nice in a noir. Sometimes they get so knotty that I completely lose track of who the characters are talking about. Not so here - it was usually easy to keep track of what the characters know. I did have a sneaking suspicion that I'd seen this movie before though, so that may be why.
Anyway, the film also spends a lot of time creating and exploding cover stories as different characters try to clear their names. It made me think of post-modernism, where the narrative is considered to be more important than the reality of a situation. In these modern times when objective truth is becoming more and more murky, perhaps we're due for a resurgence in noirs?
Anyway, I'm not that interested in the central theme of the film (playing by the rules vs taking the law into one's own hands) and this film did not succeed in hooking me on it either. It did a good job of keeping me entertained and guessing as the film unfolded however. It was a decent film.
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